Stay
by bloorange
Summary: Sakura is drifting away, and Naruto knows that no matter how much he loves Sakura, he cannot do anything to prevent her from leaving.


**I hope this is not as cheesy as I think it is. I do not think I am a skillful writer, but I did my best. Tell me if it is bad. I can take anything, even if you say it is trash.**

**I do not know if this is too "theatrical" or something, but I hope I am not too far off.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own.**

Sakura and Naruto were never friends.

All of the times the two have spent together were worth nothing. Maybe once, Naruto might have thought that they could have been something more than just plain teammates and could have formed a true bond, but now it seemed impossible, so far away.

And it hurt. His relationship with Sakura had been something that Naruto has craved for so long, and something that he has never experienced with anyone. It hurt that he has lost it so easily and in such a short amount of time. It hurt to feel alone again when he has finally had a taste of what he has long desired.

It was stupid. _He_ was stupid. No one would ever accept him for who he was. He has never been loved. He has always been alone. What was so different now that made him stupid enough to think that there was a chance that Sakura would love him? That for once, Naruto would be put first in someone's heart?

He was ridiculous. There were barely any persons who have ever even noticed Naruto, who acknowledged him. And yet, Naruto was crazy enough to hope to be someone's first priority, their most important person.

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

As if that would ever happen.

The signs were obvious from the beginning. The way Sakura would ignore Naruto or forget about him once she had what she wanted. The way she would always leave and abandon Naruto even though he was the one who always stayed by her side. The times when she would disregard Naruto's feelings and treat him like trash whenever she pleased. And the way she would use him and manipulate his emotions to get what she wanted.

Naruto was foolish, foolish enough to think that maybe he was just being too paranoid, and at the end of the day, he would always be the one she would come to. He foolishly clung onto the hope that maybe, since they were teammates, Sakura would eventually come to regard him as a friend and the one who would understand and care for her the most, the one who she could always come to whether she had problems or if she just wanted to have company.

He was wrong. Horribly wrong.

Naruto knew their peers loved her. Sakura was charming. Very likable. And in the years following the start of what he thought was their friendship, Naruto realized that she was already drifting away from him.

He knew he was being shallow. Sakura seeing her friends did not necessarily mean anything. Sakura cannot possibly just waste all of her time taking care of Naruto. She had other friends. He cannot just take all of those away from her just because of his selfishness. What kind of a friend would he be if he prohibited Sakura from meeting new people? He would not even be much of a friend that way. He would be holding her back. He should have just relaxed and let her be.

But Naruto was scared.

He kept thinking that his Sakura would eventually leave him alone. Naruto was spoiled by the small amount of attention Sakura gave him and he just kept feeding on it. But he did not want to think about it. He was tired of it. He did not want to be depressed anymore, so he ignored it. Naruto kept thinking to himself that it would soon pass. That maybe it was just a phase. Sakura did enjoy his company; maybe that would be enough to convince her to stay.

So Naruto never did anything. He continued supporting Sakura, as he thought that was what good friends did to each other. And slowly, almost unnoticeably, the gap between him and Sakura continued to grow until Sakura could not see Naruto anymore. She started to forget him completely.

Naruto wanted her to _see_ him again. He desperately wanted to fill in that gap, wanted to fill that empty space with good memories like doing the things normal friends do, but found that he could not. The gap was too big; they were too far apart. Naruto had no choice but to watch as Sakura went farther and farther away from him.

And, once again, Naruto was alone.


End file.
